ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF THIS POSITION:
MLive Media Group has an opening for a dream job covering the Top 5-ranked Michigan State University Spartans men’s basketball team. We are looking for a seasoned and open-minded beat reporter to follow the team all year long. Our goal is to develop the definitive new-media voice of Spartans basketball for fans. This position will work to stay ahead of the competition by breaking news, but also be able to look at the court in order to spot basketball trends and introduce the players to our audience through features. Staying on top of every angle and local/national opinion on the MSU beat is a must. You will lead discussions with the audience, answer questions and comments, engage with social media - and possibly represent the company on TV or radio. During football season, you will contribute as a secondary reporter.
REQUIRED EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS:
• Bachelor’s degree in Journalism or Communications or related field required
• Minimum of 3 years of Division 1 college basketball beat writing experience, including demonstrated ability to break news at the highest levels
• Proven ability in reporting and “writing clean”
• Proven ability in covering recruiting
• Willingness to consistently engage with an active audience
• Ability to work under deadline pressure and prioritize tasks appropriately
• Demonstrated ability in capitalizing on high-value topics by engaging audiences in frequency and urgency
• Solid understanding of news writing, journalistic ethics and story structure
• Experience with SEO, social media, HTML, taking photos, recording audio and video with ability to edit a plus
• Understanding of the methods and tools used to deliver content across a variety of platforms such as Moveable Type CMS, SCC Budgeting and Archiving System, Smartphones
• Keeps abreast of industry advances and proactively considers new methods of reaching the audience
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
Duties and Responsibilities, work schedules and/or location may change based on evolving business needs.
1. Gather information and write journalistically sound news elements for use in all media platforms, existing and future, that is:
• Balanced and factual
• Timely and topical
• Well-sourced and contextually correct
2. Learn and employ techniques for effective digital “beat-blogging” reporting across all platforms, including but not limited to:
• Frequent, incremental posting throughout the day
• Story aggregation and topical link-posting
• Monitoring and engaging in reader comment streams on MLive impact pages
• Elevating comments into new posts when appropriate
• Interacting on social media platforms, with story shares, objective commentary, and promoting the news organization’s content initiatives
• Understanding and employing the means for monitoring audience interest and competitors’ posting on your topic, including setting up Google alerts, Twitter and RSS feeds
3. Work independently and remotely, while maintaining operational communication with editor and, when applicable, production center.
4. Working knowledge and use of the hardware, software and cloud-based equipment and systems for direct-to-web production and engagement, including but not limited to:
• Taking photographs and short video, and posting it to the web as well as uploading to any internal systems
• Using laptops and smartphones for remote web reporting
• Using the Moveable Type content management system, and any future CMS
5. Understand our news organization’s audience traffic tracking systems and analytical reports
RELATED COMPETENCIES:

WORKING CONDITIONS AND PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:
General Office Environment. Significant travel required.
Essential functions of this job are described. It does not prescribe or restrict the tasks that may be assigned or work schedules, as they are subject to change at any time due to management’s discretion, business necessity, or reasonable accommodation.